Thoughts on Dan Vs.
WHY DIDN'T I WATCH THIS BEFORE!? Okay, so with my latest review Uh Oh, Canada people had pointed me to Dan Vs. Canada. And I liked that episode I decided to watch a bunch of Dan Vs. episodes (I haven't seen all of them yet). So, I like most of the show. Dan is an awesome character and somehow it's cathartic to see him get revenge on whatever mundane thing causes him ire... like a burger joint or... stupidity itself. Not to mention that it's absolutely loaded with comedy, and I'll be sure to talk about the show in more detail later. Oddly enough, Dan Vs. Canada is probably one of my favorite episodes of that show. For one, Dan is never portrayed in the right for wanting revenge on... Canada. And Dan's thoughts of Canada are quite frankly hilarious. It ends with Canada getting overrun with a giant avalanche and yet it's nowhere near as insulting as Uh-Oh, Canada. And can we talk about that. I've been getting a bunch of comments saying "That's the joke" of Hank being misinformed about Canada and how great America is. It was supposedly a meta thing. Hank saying that all Canadians are "sanctimonious and bland" is supposed to be humorous because he's sanctimonious and bland. That's not meta comedy; that's forgetting to call Hank on his bullshit. Also, having the credits song be "Only in the USA" makes me think that that's not exactly the joke. Maybe that's what they were going for, but they've failed. Miserably. Also, why is it: * Spongebob; Breadwinners; MLP; Johnny Test -- "It's a kid's show, so leave it alone!" * King of Hill; Family Guy -- "It's a parody/comedy, so leave it alone!" I will critique whatever I damn well please and no show is above or below criticism. I do keep target audience in mind when I review something. I don't demand that Spongebob have a season-long arc or something as long as each episode stays coherent and doesn't traumatize kids for life. I don't even demand that Family Guy or King of the Hill be funny. I demand that they don't insult people. What was I talking about? Ah yes, Dan Vs. There are a couple of things that hold it back from being one of my all-time favorite shows. I'm not talking about the animation, which works for what the show's trying to do. My biggest problem with the show is Elise. Her whole secret agent shtick would be fascinating if that didn't distract so much from the comedy surrounding Dan and Chris. She's not a bad character, but it's just frustrating when she has a deus ex machina way of solving the problem or when we're focusing on her when we shouldn't be. Also, in most shows you want characters like Dan to lose. However, they've stumbled upon a formula that seems to work. Dan doesn't go out of his way to hurt people (except Elise and Chris)... unless they've slighted him first. Sure, sometimes it's in his own head or blown out of proportion. This is what makes some episodes like The Fancy Restraunt or Burgerphile so great, and yet sometimes it backfires. When Dan loses the episodes are very sour. I could kind of see The Monster Under the Bed where (spoilers) Elise and Chris play a massive prank on Dan that ends with him naked, covered in grass clippings, in the Canadian wasteland. He constantly pushes them around, so it's right that they'd get revenge. However, if it's one of the earlier episodes you've watched then it just seems out of nowhere and needlessly convoluted. However, then there's The Telemarketer. I won't talk about the wasted opportunity as Dan Vs. is at its best when it goes against a relateable problem like fighting Traffic. However, this episode has Dan constantly being harassed intentionally by a telemarketer. What did Dan do to the telemarketer? He put the telemarketer in jail... because the telemarketer stole his identity. And the episode ends with the telemarketer winning. I don't know if it's "review worthy" as it has a few good jokes, but it's definitely my least favorite episode of the show. Still, those are the only couple of episodes that were sour for me. Most of the episodes hit the comedy right out of the park. The show's pretty good and you should check it out if you haven't yet. Category:Miscellaneous